


Realisations and Revelations

by bookybookworm



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Confusion, F/M, Fluff, Hickeys, Humor, Identity Reveal, Kissing, Lots of kissing, She's also in denial, adrien is oblivious, again the ladrien is barely there, an akuma called Polly the Parrot, awkward conversations on a rooftop at midnight, bit of marichat tho, like always, love square, marinette is confused
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-06-01 05:01:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6501742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookybookworm/pseuds/bookybookworm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or, how a seemingly unimportant injury coupled with an ill-timed photo shatters Marinette's world. In a good way.</p><p>"Now it was all rushing back to her. How she had grabbed Chat’s face. How she had brought his face to hers. How she had closed her eyes, feeling only the pressure of Chat’s lips on hers. How, after a second, Chat was responding, placing a hand beside her head, trapping her body under his. And all that had been Adrien."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hickeys and Make-up

**Author's Note:**

> What was supposed to be a funny 1k words one shot turned into a twenty page nightmare. I'm sorry. It all just spewed out from nowhere. I guess I'm going to have to split it into parts to make it easier to read :(  
> Disclaimer: I own nothing except a grimy two pence coin I found on the ground.

Marinette groaned. She had woken up at a reasonably early hour today, and was leisurely getting ready for school when Tikki had all but dragged her (seriously, how could something that small be so strong?) to her open desktop. Marinette sighed at her screensaver – Adrien was smiling at her with a dreamy smile on his face, in various poses – and frowned at Tikki.

“What is it?” she asked, pulling her black jacket over her shoulders.

Tikki jumped around on the keyboard, and a horrifyingly pink website appeared on her monitor. “Look!” Tikki exclaimed.

Marinette gaped. “What?” she yelled. She quickly covered her mouth, praying that her mother wouldn’t hear her. “Oh my god,” she whispered, sinking into her desk chair.

“How did that happen, Marinette?” Tikki asked in an accusatory tone.

Marinette looked mortified. “It’s not like that, Tikki,” she said, scrubbing a hand over her face. “They’ve got it all wrong.”

Marinette couldn’t bring herself to look at the pink monstrosity. It was a website for an online newspaper, and the article in question was decorated with bright red love hearts and lipstick marks. Marinette’s internal designer was cringing. Across the top of the page, in hot pink letters, was: “Chat Noir and Ladybug: A Secret Relationship?” Below that was a slightly pixelated image of Chat Noir looking sideways in their recent battle with an akuma. The picture was enough of a good quality that you could see a highly suspicious red mark on his neck. The caption read, “Chat Noir spotted today with a hickey on his neck! Who gave it to him? Could it be Ladybug?”

Marinette groaned. She quickly minimised the webpage, cheering herself up with the pictures of Adrien. “Tikki, I’m not in a relationship with Chat! Why would I want to be?”

“Well then what is that?” Tikki floated in front of her face. “I thought Chat loved Ladybug. Who else could have given it to him?”

Marinette snorted incredulously. “Oh please, he just flirts with me. He’s not in love with me…” She trailed off. It would be nice if he was in- No! Marinette loved Adrien. She couldn’t cheat on Adrien. But… she and Adrien weren’t actually in a relationship. And Chat was pretty cute…

Tikki smiled knowingly, bumping Marinette’s arm with her head.

“No, Tikki!” Marinette protested. “Anyway, that isn’t a… _hickey_. The akuma just hit him in the neck. It’s just a bruise.”

Before Tikki could say anything, Marinette glimpsed the clock on her computer. “Oh no!” she squealed, rushing to the door. “I’m going to be late!”

Marinette raced down the steps and swiftly hugged her mum, who was in the kitchen. “See you after school!” she yelled. She kissed her dad, who was in the bakery, on the cheek and rushed outside. “Bye!” She waved in his vague direction, before sprinting to school. She arrived in the classroom seconds before Mme Bustier. She frowned at the black-haired girl, but didn’t say anything. Marinette spotted Chloé rolling her eyes at her dishevelled attire.

“Marinette!” Alya greeted. “You’re cutting it fine.”

“Yeah, I know,” Marinette gasped. She rested her hand on her beating heart. “I had to run.”

“I can see that,” Alya drawled. “Anyway! Did you see that article about Chat Noir?”

“What about Chat Noir?” Adrien whirled round in his seat quickly.

Alya laughed. “Wow, you admire him a lot, don’t you, Adrien?”

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Hey Marinette,” he said.

“Uh- um… Hey! Adrien,” Marinette stuttered. She internally cheered herself for not slipping up too badly. “You are how? I mean… Are how you? No! I mean…” She might’ve jinxed it a little.

Adrien smiled. “I’m good!” Alya rolled her eyes as a blush rose to Marinette’s cheeks.

“So… did you see the article?” she prompted, asking both Marinette and Adrien now.

“Yeah, I did,” Marinette said, focusing on Alya. Maybe if she didn’t look at Adrien she wouldn’t blush.

“I didn’t,” Adrien said, furrowing his brow. Marinette melted at the sight of his cute expression.

“It was a stupid tabloid, but they had a picture of a hickey on Chat Noir’s neck!” Alya exclaimed, waving her hands. “I’m not sure if it was Photoshopped, but I posted it to my blog just in case.”

If Marinette hadn’t been looking at Adrien so closely (despite her promises not to) she wouldn’t have seen Adrien gingerly cupping his neck for a second, before lowering his hand guiltily. At first she thought nothing of it; maybe Adrien felt sympathy for the cat-eared superhero. But then she realised that Adrien had touched the exact same spot that Chat Noir had had the bruise on. And Adrien hadn’t seen the article. And maybe, just maybe, Marinette could see a slight difference in his normal skin tone to a patch on his neck. As if there was a layer of make-up covering it.

Marinette had zoned out; Alya had stopped in the middle of reciting the article to Adrien (how could Alya remember whole chunks of text like that and yet only get a C on her history exam?) and was looking at Marinette curiously.

“Are you alright?”

“Uh- yeah, I’m fine,” Marinette breathed, trying not to look at Adrien. “I… I just was thinking about something.”

“Ri-ight,” Alya said hesitantly. “Anyway, I think that Ladybug and Chat Noir are totally dating.”

“What?” Marinette squeaked. “I mean… why do you think that?”

“Yeah,” Adrien agreed. For some reason a light blush was creeping up neck. Or maybe not ‘for some reason.’ Maybe Adrien was… Chat Noir. No! He couldn’t be! How could Adrien Agreste, the nicest and most handsome boy on the planet, be Chat Noir? It was impossible. Right? So what if they had the same shade of blonde hair, and the same colour eyes (excluding the green sclera, of course), and the same mark on the neck, albeit covered up on Adrien. Oh god… Maybe Adrien was Chat Noir…

Alya was speaking. “Even if it’s not a hickey, those two are totally in sync, and they always flirt with each other… So they must be in a relationship, or at least crushing on each other.” Marinette’s eyes widened. If Adrien was Chat Noir… then that meant that Adrien had been flirting with Marinette all the time, not just some random boy.

Adrien was staring into space with a dreamy look on his face. “Imagine if they _were_ in a relationship…”

Alya sighed. “Yeah…”

Marinette bit her lip. Now she was at least 70% sure that Adrien was Chat. But not _completely_ sure. She needed to find more evidence.


	2. Posters and Patrol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2! It's not as long, but I update every day so don't worry...

The rest of the day passed without incident, aside from a rather nasty scrape on her hand from falling down the steps at lunch. Alya, of course, had immediately commented on her clumsiness.

Marinette lay on her bed, staring at the posters of Adrien stuck on her wall. Posters of Adrien. Oh god. Marinette jumped up and stood in front of the largest one, depicting Adrien looking dreamily into the camera. If Adrien was Chat Noir… that would mean that Marinette had pictures of Chat Noir plastered over her walls _. Ladybug_ had pictures of Chat Noir plastered over her walls. Marinette dropped her head into her hands, before setting her mouth into a determined line. She carefully took down all the pictures from her wall, placing them in a large box which she stowed under her bed. If Adrien wasn’t Chat, then Marinette could put them back up, no problem. She decorated the now blank wall with pictures of her and Alya, and some of her sketches.

She jumped back onto her bed, sighing in satisfaction. Tikki eyed her from her position on the desk. “So you think Adrien is Chat?” she asked, looking at the photo of Adrien on Marinette’s computer. Marinette yelped, and quickly changed the screensaver. She rested her head on the back of her chair once it was finished.

“I… I think so,” she said in response to Tikki.

“Would it be that bad?” Tikki said, looking at the troubled expression on Marinette’s face.

“I don’t know,” Marinette said forlornly. “How can _Adrien_ be that mangy cat? And if he was… well Chat’s my best friend. And Adrien’s my crush.”

“So?” Tikki prompted.

“So, I’ll just act weird around Chat. And I’m not in love with Chat, just with Adrien!” Marinette buried her head in her arms.

“But you could learn to love Chat,” Tikki said, floating up and laying a hand in her hair. “Something tells me you’re already in love with Chat, anyway.”

“What?” Marinette cried. “What – what gave you that i-impression?”

Tikki just laughed knowingly, like the soft tinkle of a wind chime.

“And,” Marinette continued, “Neither Chat _nor_ Adrien are in love with me!”

“I think you know that’s not true,” Tikki said. “Chat loves Ladybug. So does Adrien.”

“But does he love Marinette?” She sighed. “He just thinks I’m a stumbling girl who once played video games with him and never talked to him again.”

Tikki patted Marinette on the shoulder, and rested in her cupped hands. “Why wouldn’t he love Marinette? You’re amazing!”

“Only inside the Ladybug suit.” Marinette rubbed her eyes. “Outside the suit… I’m just me.”

Tikki frowned. “Marinette, you’re one of the kindest Ladybugs I’ve ever met, and that kindness was there before I met you. You’re also talented at designing, sewing, baking, and making clothes! You’re brilliant inside and outside the suit. Now let’s get going. You’ve got patrol with Chat.”

“Oh no! Chat!” Marinette shouted. “I forgot!”

Tikki laughed. “Don’t worry, you’ve still got a few minutes.”

“Right,” Marinette agreed, looking at her clock. “Tikki, spots on!”

Tikki whirled into her earrings, and a bright pink light later, Ladybug had appeared. Her eyes were a little red, and her lips chapped, but Marinette knew that she would be okay after racing over the rooftops, the wind in her hair.

She met Chat on the Eiffel Tower, who was crouching low and looking out over the brightly lit city. Ladybug stood next to him, taking a minute to survey the view. Even though she lived in Paris, there was something magical about watching it at night, from a vantage point.

“Did I keep you waiting long?” she asked, looking down at Chat.

Chat looked up at her and grinned. “Not at all, my lady.” Ladybug felt the sudden need to look away. “I just got here meow-self.” Okay, that pun removed the blush from her face.

Chat stood up, and tapped Ladybug on the shoulder. “Well? Shall we?” He held his arm out, half-jokingly, so that Ladybug could link their arms. She pushed him away.

“Let’s go kitty,” she said, swinging her yo-yo and jumping to the nearest building.

Chat Noir followed, baton still in his belt, using his cat-like strength and reflexes to bound across the rooftops.

The patrol was filled with companionable silence, broken only by the swishing of Chat’s tail and the mechanisms of Ladybug’s yo-yo. They did this often, communicating through silent gestures and sometimes seemingly with one mind, scanning for akumas but also liberating themselves from their real life. Soon, however, they chanced upon a billboard featuring the infamous model Adrien Agreste. Chat slowed down in front of it, and flexed his arms.

“What do you think, bug?” Chat asked light-heartedly, though a look in his eyes was a little troubled. “Could I be a good model?”

Ladybug bit her lip. Now was her chance to see if Chat really was Adrien. “Hmm, I don’t know,” she called out teasingly. “Maybe you need to build up a little more muscle.” Now that was a lie. The leather suit left little to the imagination, and Ladybug knew that Chat Noir was very fit. “Say, you _do_ look a little like him, actually.”

Chat quickly dropped his pose, flustered. He turned away from Ladybug, so that she could only see the back of his head, in the pretence of studying the billboard. “Really?” Chat mused. “I don’t see it.” He flashed her a grin.

If Ladybug hadn’t been looking at his expression, she would have been convinced by the finality in his voice. But Chat’s eyes were darting around, the grin looking a little too forced. And Ladybug hadn’t been lying. Adrien looked a lot like Chat Noir.

“Whatever,” Ladybug said, throwing her hand out. She smiled. “Come on, kitty, let’s finish our patrol.” She hoped that Chat wouldn’t notice that her smile was a little too forced as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please give feedback! I'm posting tomorrow


	3. Kisses and Secrets

Marinette arrived late to school the next day. She had been awake later than usual due to the extended patrol – Ladybug and Chat Noir had found an akuma just as they were preparing to leave. It had been a relatively easy one, despite the two heroes being a little distracted that night. As usual, the akuma attack ended with Hawkmoth not receiving the miraculouses, and the celebratory fist bump. Marinette had gone to bed with thousands of thoughts swirling around in her head, and she was unable to sleep until four o’clock in the morning.

She hoped the bags under her eyes weren’t _too_ noticeable.

Mme Bustier let her off with a warning – “Since you’ve been relatively on time this whole week, I won’t give you a detention, but if you’re late again…” – and she slipped into her seat beside Alya, wishing she had gotten time to eat breakfast that morning.

“Girl, you’ve got to get your act together!” Alya exclaimed quietly, prodding Marinette’s shoulder. “You might get suspended one of these days!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Marinette grumbled, pushing Alya’s hand away. “I will.”

Chloé stalked up to Marinette haughtily. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” she said, slamming her hands on the table.

“Careful, you might chip a nail! And we wouldn’t want that, would we?” Marinette said sarcastically, a little bit of Ladybug slipping into her speech. Alya raised her eyebrows, impressed.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” Chloé repeated, leaning in close. She suddenly switched to a sugary sweet voice. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m having a birthday party on Saturday. It’ll be a Ladybug themed party.”

“And?” Marinette rolled her eyes. “Let me guess, I’m not invited.”

“Of course you aren’t,” Chloé snarled. She laughed in that annoying way of hers. “Oh, and Adrien _is_ invited,” she hissed, making sure the model couldn’t hear her. “We’re going to dance together.”

She spun on her heel, and walked away, almost stumbling in her shoes. Alya snorted at her. Chloé cast an evil look behind her, and sat in her seat.

Marinette looked at the back of Adrien’s head. He wouldn’t really dance with Chloé, would he? Marinette remembered them dancing at Adrien’s party, hosted by ‘the Bubbler’. Adrien had looked uncomfortable then, she had noticed. Then Marinette’s mind switched to how they had defeated the Bubbler. They. Her and Chat. Oh-god-Chat-was-going-to-dance-with-Chloé. Marinette grew irrationally angry. It wasn’t her business who Chat _or_ Adrien danced with. Even if they were the same person. And she had a raging crush on him. Marinette groaned, pushing her head into her hands. This was all too confusing.

Alya rubbed her back, mistaking her confusion for anger at Chloé. “Cheer up,” she said. “I’m sure Adrien won’t actually dance with her.”

“I know,” Marinette mumbled weakly, not taking her head out of her hands. Then she sat up like a shot, startling Alya.

“Wow, girl, what is it?” she asked, unconsciously sliding away from her at the crazed look in Marinette’s eyes.

Ladybug had kissed Chat Noir. _Marinette_ had kissed _Adrien_. During the events of Dislocœur, Ladybug had kissed Chat to break the ‘spell’ without a second thought. Now it was all rushing back to her. How she had grabbed Chat’s face. How she had brought his face to hers. How she had closed her eyes, feeling only the pressure of Chat’s lips on hers. How, after a second, Chat was responding, placing a hand beside her head, trapping her body under his. And all that had been _Adrien_. Marinette emitted a sort of squeal-groan, resting her head on the table none-too-gently.

“Are you alright?” It was Nino, thank god, not Adrien. She didn’t think she could cope if Adrien had spoken to her.

“Yeah, what happened?” _Speak of the devil and he doth appear_ , Marinette thought to herself.

She slowly raised her head, a blush highlighting her face. “I’m fine,” she piped. “Just tired.” She laughed uncomfortably.

Nino nodded, unsure, but turned back to the front. Adrien seemed to want to say something, but Mme Bustier announced the end of registration, and they had to go to their next lesson.

Alya looked at her, slumped on the table, and poked her unsympathetically. “Come on, Marinette. You can think about Adrien later.”

“Alya!” Marinette complained, looking around to see if Adrien had left. He had. Marinette sighed, relieved.

They trooped out of the classroom, Marinette thinking about the kiss all the way through chemistry. Alya had to keep on prodding her to pay attention. It was a wonder she didn’t get caught.

By the time lunch rolled around, Marinette was still confused about her feelings, and Alya was exasperated.

“Marinette!” she yelled, waving her arms around in the girl’s face. They were sitting on the steps of the Collège. “I’m giving you my notes for Chemistry and History, but you need to stop day dreaming! Maybe you should just ask Adrien out. If he says yes, you’ll be dating, and you don’t have to worry about the crush. If he says no, at least you get some closure.”

“No, no!” Marinette protested, grabbing Alya’s arms. “It’s not that. And I’m not going to ask Adrien out!” She blinked. “He’ll probably say yes, though, if he’s Chat,” Marinette muttered.

“What did you say?”

“Oh, uh- nothing!” Marinette squeaked.

Alya rolled her eyes. “Why are you so distracted then?”

“It’s… it’s nothing,” Marinette lied half-heartedly. Alya raised an eyebrow. “Okay, okay, it’s not nothing! I found out one of my best friend’s deepest secrets and now I’m really confused and he’ll probably hate me for the rest of our lives.” Marinette moaned. Hearing all of that out loud just made it a dozen times worse.

“Who is this guy?” Alya asked curiously.

“Uh- no one! He’s from outside school.”

“Okay… and how did you find out the secret? I assume you’re not going to tell me the actual secret, but…”

“Yeah, I can’t, sorry… But I just kind of… figured it out.” Marinette breathed deeply. “He doesn’t know I know, and it’s just changing the whole way I see him!”

“Well, he can’t be angry if you just figured it out,” Alya comforted. “And… is it a bad change?”

“No,” Marinette said decisively. “It’s a brilliant change. I’m so glad.”

“Then why are you confused?”

“I don’t know Alya!” Marinette cried. She rested her head on Alya’s shoulder, and sniffled. Alya awkwardly patted her shoulder. “Thanks, Alya,” Marinette whispered when she had calmed.

“Marinette, is this secret that big?” Alya asked concernedly. “Why is it affecting you this much?”

“Oh, Alya, it’s one of the biggest secrets I know!” Marinette said.

“Bigger than the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir?” Alya asked, trying to cheer Marinette up.

Marinette smiled secretively. “Maybe not that big.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment or kudos?


	4. Flirting and Parrots

As Marinette was walking home from school, a scream interrupted her thoughts. Smoke bellowed from a nearby house. Marinette ran in the vague direction of the smoke, hoping to escape the fleeing crowds and find a deserted street or a dark alley where she could transform. There was no such luck. She was quickly accosted by Alya, who had her phone gripped tightly in her hand, videoing the wreckage.

“And here is my friend Marinette! We’re going to find more about the akuma! Stay tuned!” Alya flipped the camera back to the piles of rubble, where a costumed man was jumping about, screeching at the top of his lungs.

“Marinette!” Alya whispered, so the camera couldn’t pick up her voice. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, um, I… I just saw you! And I didn’t want you to – to be in any danger,” Marinette stuttered.

“Okay. Let’s get a closer look!”        

“No, wait!” Marinette whispered. “Let’s wait until Chat Noir a-and Ladybug arrive. We’ll be safe then.”

“It’s fine, Marinette!” Alya muttered, already making her way to the akumatised victim. She once again trained her camera on herself. “And who is this? One of the elusive Hawkmoth’s villains? When will Ladybug and Chat Noir get here? We’ll have to find out!”

The akuma trained his eyes on Alya and Marinette. “Ooh, girls! There’s two girls here!” he screamed in a high pitch. He looked at the camera. “I’m Polly the Parrot! Ladybug, come find me! I want your miraculous!” He screeched once again.

“Hey, isn’t Polly a girl’s name?” Marinette yelled. Then she remembered that she wasn’t Ladybug. And she couldn’t jump away from Polly’s attack.

His lungs filled up with an impossible amount of air, and he pointed his mouth (beak?) at the two. Marinette knew what was about to happen.

“Alya! Run!” she shouted, but it was too late. Polly made an inhuman noise, glass panels from the opposite building shattering from the noise. An almost visible sound wave flew towards Alya and Marinette.

Marinette curled into a ball instinctively, wrapping her hands around Alya. But the wave didn’t hit. It was warded off by a certain superhero in a skin-tight leather suit. He twirled his baton at a superhuman speed, so that the waves bounced off.

“Chat Noir!” Alya exclaimed, lifting up her camera. Chat didn’t turn around, and continued to protect the girls. His mouth was screwed up in concentration. Suddenly, he grabbed Marinette and Alya around the waists, and ran off towards a nearby alley.

“Stay there, guys,” he said, flashing a small flirty smile and a wink towards Marinette, which did not go unnoticed by Alya. He ran off towards the akuma.

Marinette flushed, her hands going to the spot on her waist that Chat had touched. He had smiled at her. _And winked_. Oh god.

Alya quickly picked up her phone, which had been filming all this time. “Hey Ladybloggers! Did you just see that? We just got rescued by Chat Noir! I’ll try to get closer again.”

She briefly turned off the live broadcast, and swung around to Marinette. “Girl, what did I just see?” she exclaimed. “Did he just wink at you?”

“Uh…” Marinette mumbled intelligently. Why was she so embarrassed? It was just Chat Noir, for god’s sake! Though… it was also Adrien.

“Whatever,” Alya said laughingly, and ran out of the alleyway.

“Wait, Alya!” Marinette yelled, before realising that this was her chance to transform. She made sure that Alya had disappeared from view, and opened her purse.

“Finally!” Tikki said. “We need to go!”

“I know,” Marinette said. “Tikki, spots on!” She transformed into Ladybug, feeling exhilarated, and raced to where the akuma was.

Alya was hiding behind a pile of bricks, but Ladybug didn’t have time for her. She trusted her friend to stay put. Chat was warding off the akuma, who seemed to be shedding colourful feathers. She rushed to stand beside him.

“My lady!” Chat yelled. “Where were you?”

“Sorry!” Ladybug replied, swinging her yo-yo to shield them from a particularly nasty blast. “People were with me. I couldn’t transform.” Despite herself, she looked curiously at him. Did he have no idea that she was Marinette? Ladybug knew who Chat was, but was it the same for him?

“It doesn’t matter meow,” Chat shouted with a straight face, causing Ladybug to groan. “I think the akuma is in his lapel.”

Ladybug agreed; Polly the Parrot was wearing what seemed to be a business suit covered with colourful (synthetic, she assumed, considering Chat wasn’t sneezing his face off) feathers, that rippled in the wind. A bright red feather that didn’t go with the colour scheme was on his lapel, slightly larger than the rest.

“How do we get to it?” Ladybug yelled. “If we get too close we’ll be blasted away.”

“I’ll leave that to you, my lady. The noise is doing murder on my heightened senses.” Ladybug noticed that Chat’s fake ears were pressed down into his hair, and his face was growing redder and redder from exertion.

“Don’t worry kitty,” she shouted. “You can be the distraction.”

“Like usual!” Chat grinned, showing Ladybug that he didn’t mind the arrangement. For it was always this way; Ladybug used tactics to get to the akuma, and Chat distracted the villain. They had talked about it, and she knew that Chat didn’t mind being just the diversion. After all, they were a team, right?

Ladybug threw her yo-yo into the air and yelled, “Lucky charm!” There was a flash of light, and a spotted pair of earmuffs fell into her hands. The label promised they were noise cancelling.

She slipped the earmuffs on, and the cries of Polly faded into the distance. “Looking good, my lady!” Chat shouted in her ear.

“Aw, thanks kitty!” Ladybug smiled. “Looks like I’ll be the distraction today.” She rang his bell. Chat sighed, before remembering where he was.

Ladybug jogged towards the akuma, twirling her yo-yo to deflect the sound waves, and remaining unaffected by the awful noise; her eardrums would have blown out by now.

She was only a few feet away from Polly. “Chat!” she called, hoping he could hear her.

He could. “Cataclysm!” he yelled, running his hand along the base of a large statue. It toppled over, and Ladybug jumped out of the way just in time. Polly the Parrot was not so lucky, distracted as he was by Ladybug. The statue landed on his legs. Polly let out a half-hearted scream, but was in too much pain to do anything else.

“His legs will heal, right? With Lucky Charm?” Ladybug asked worriedly as Chat loped towards her.

He tapped his ears. “Oh, right,” Ladybug muttered embarrassedly. She took off the earmuffs. She had probably been shouting.

Chat frowned. “I think he’ll be fine. After all, it was my cataclysm that did it to him, so…”

“Let’s hope so,” Ladybug breathed. She plucked the feather from his lapel and ripped it in two, the akuma flying out. Chat sneezed violently. “Oh, sorry!” she exclaimed.

Chat shook his head, a hand over his nose. “I dink I’ll just stand over dere,” he muttered.

Ladybug laughed, then brought out her yo-yo. “No more evil-doing for you, little akuma,” she told it. She swung the yo-yo. “Time to de-evilise!” She captured the akuma. “Gotcha!” She released the now pure white akuma, which flapped its wings to propel itself into the sky. “Bye-bye little butterfly,” she said, watching it disappear into the sky.

She grabbed the earmuffs from their position around her neck, and threw it upwards. “Miraculous Ladybug!” she yelled, and a swarm of ladybirds flew around, righting the destroyed buildings and fixing the statue. ‘Polly’ lost his ridiculous costume, and now lay in an ordinary business suit.

Chat appeared by Ladybug’s side, and held up his fist. Ladybug smiled, and brought her fist to lightly bump his own. “Well played!” they chorused.

Ladybug and Chat raced up to ‘Polly’ nervously. “A-are you alright?” Chat asked. Ladybug was struck by how... well, _Adrien_ he sounded.

The victim slowly clambered to his feet. He didn’t seem to be in any pain. The superhero duo sighed in relief. “I- I saw my parrot escape! He’s gone!” The man broke down into tears.

“I think this belongs to you,” Ladybug said gently, holding out the repaired feather. She tried to stay clear of Chat.

“Th-thank you,” the man sniffled. There was a flap of wings, and Ladybug almost thought that the akuma had come back. But it wasn’t. A beautiful red parrot landed on the man’s shoulder, and cawed happily. The man looked up, surprised, and immediately broke out into a grin.

“Polly!” he yelled. “Oh, thank you, Ladybug and… Chat Noir?” Chat had run a few feet away, holding his nose, but gave them a thumbs up.

“He has allergies,” Ladybug said by way of explaining. She walked to Chat.

Chat was about to speak, but they were cut off by a shrill beeping. “Ladybug! Your earrings only have one spot!” He was right. In the confusion, Ladybug hadn’t noticed the spots rapidly disappearing.

“Ah, well… see you, kitty! You should go too.”

“Uh- yeah.” Chat nodded. “I’ll see you tonight?” He added hopefully.

“Sure!” she called behind her as she swung away on her yo-yo.

He smiled absentmindedly at her retreating figure before noticing his ring flashing. “Bye!” he called out to Alya, who he had spotted, and extended his baton, giving a two-fingered salute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New update tomorrow... Comment?


	5. Revelations and Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marinette revealeth her secrets

“I didn’t say _anything_ to him, Tikki!” Marinette groaned. “There was no time after, and I got so caught up in the battle, and I couldn’t even say anything _during_ the battle because of that god-awful noise!”

Tikki was resting on Marinette’s desk. “You’re meeting him tonight, no?” She flew up to pat Marinette’s cheek. “Just tell him then!”

“You’re right, Tikki,” Marinette said, touching the kwami’s head with a finger. “I wish you were there for moral support, instead of being in my earrings.”

“You’ll do fine on your own, Marinette,” Tikki chided. “Now you have to do your homework!”

* * *

 

Chat Noir was waiting for Ladybug on a building by the park. Ladybug dropped down behind him, and bumped her shoulder with his.

“Hey kitty,” she said amiably. “Been waiting long?”

“Only a few minutes.”

“Ah, sorry about that. I had lots of homework.”

“The problems of a teenage superhero, huh?” Chat laughed.

Ladybug remembered Adrien’s laugh when he had given her his umbrella.

“Chat,” she said seriously. “I need to tell you something.”

All traces of amusement vanished from Chat’s face. “What’s up?”

“Uh. I – I think I…” Ladybug fingered her earrings for good luck before ploughing on. “I think I know your identity.”

“What?”

“It was an accident, I’m sorry!” Ladybug gestured wildly with her hands. “It was just, the _article_ , and, your _hair_ , and–”

“My lady, don’t apologise!” Chat raised his hands. “I was just surprised.”

Ladybug clenched her fists. “Adrien, right?” Chat nodded, completely poker-faced. “I’m sorr–”

“Ladybug,” Chat said warningly. Ladybug bit her lip. “And- what article? My hair?”

“Ah, you know,” Ladybug said evenly. “The article where it said you had a hickey and they thought we were dating.”

“Oh, right,” Chat said awkwardly. “I didn’t think you’d read it.”

“Uh, I did. By the way, it was mortifying.” Chat snickered. “Anyway, Alya was talking about it and–”

“Alya?” Chat asked. “You know Alya? Wait… Alya was talking about it with me and… Marinette?”

“Y-yeah,” Ladybug muttered. She hid her face in her hands. “You’re not… disappointed, are you?” she mumbled, her voice muffled by her hands.

“Disappointed?” Chat asked incredulously. Ladybug peeked through her fingers and saw Chat grinning broadly. “This is amazing! _You’re_ amazing!”

Ladybug blushed, feeling a lot like her alter-ego. “Really?”

“Really,” Chat affirmed gently, with such strong emotion in his voice that Ladybug almost gasped. She dropped her hands. “ _You’re_ not disappointed in _me_ , are you?” he suddenly asked.

Ladybug did gasp. “No, Adrien-” (and she tried not to think how that was the first time she had called Chat Adrien) “-of course I’m not! You’re perfect! I – I mean… um…”

Chat smirked. “So tell me again how you figured me out?”

Ladybug felt relieved that Chat hadn’t called her out on her mistake. “Um, Alya was talking about your bruise, and then you touched your neck, and then I noticed you had put make-up on it, and then I realised you’re a lot like, well, _you_ , and your hair is the same shade and your eyes and your… um… _build_ is the same…” Ladybug felt like a fire hydrant. Chat was smiling. “Shut up,” Ladybug groused.

“You’re so cute, Marinette,” Chat said, then immediately clapped a hand to his mouth, eyes wide. “Um, that is to say… that’s cute… I’m cute! No!” His blood rushed to his cheeks. “I like your hair,” he said lamely, before berating himself inwardly.

Ladybug giggled. “Why, thank you, kitty,” she said, covering her mouth.

They stood in silence for a while.

“You know, I was in denial at first.” Ladybug chuckled. “I thought you couldn’t possibly be Adrien.”

“Really?” Chat asked. “It’s because I act so different, right?”

“No,” Ladybug said. Chat looked up, surprised. “I act different too, no? It’s because… um… you know, the reason isn’t important.”

Chat narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Yep!” Ladybug laughed nervously. “Anyway, I had to prove it, so when you stood in front of that billboard of you, I told you that-”

“-I looked similar, I remember,” Chat said. His eyes crinkled. “That was a test?”

“Well… no, not really.” Ladybug dragged out the word. “Because you acted embarrassed and you avoided the question, it had to be you.”

“Ah, so you resort to dirty techniques to get what you want, huh, princess?” Chat grinned. Ladybug jolted at the nickname.

“Shut up, kitty. It’s not that dirty. Not compared to when I stole your ph-”

“You stole my what?” Chat asked suspiciously.

“Um, nothing! I stole nothing!” Ladybug’s eyes darted wildly.

Chat placed his hands on his hips. “Marinette,” he said sternly. Ladybug melted at the sound of her name on Chat’s tongue.

“I- uh… I stole your phone?”

“Seriously?” Chat snorted. “Why?”

“I had left an embarrassing voice message, and I had to delete it,” Ladybug said, rushing to get the words out.

Chat roared with laughter, again reminding Ladybug of that day in the rain.

“Sh-shut up, Chat!” Ladybug stammered.

After a few minutes, Chat’s laughter died down. “I-I’m sorry, it’s j-just so funny! What was the message, anyway?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ladybug grumbled. She suddenly realised how close they had gotten, only a foot apart. Ladybug had to tilt her head slightly to look at him.

Chat had evidently realised this too. “Um,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck with a clawed hand, “So what are we going to do now?”

Ladybug frowned. “Go on patrol?”

“No, no, I mean, after that,” Chat reiterated, reaching out to touch her shoulder but choosing not to. _A shame_ , Ladybug thought unconsciously. “Like, in general. We’re still best friends, right?”

“What?” Ladybug was genuinely shocked. “Of course we are! But I know what you mean. How are we going to act in school, right?”

“Yeah,” Chat said. “I mean, you, Marinette, you always stutter around me… so…” He was frowning. “Why _do_ you do that anyway?”

“You don’t know?” Ladybug asked. “God, you _are_ oblivious.”

“What?” Chat asked intelligently.

“I… I had – _have_ – a c-crush on y-you.”

“What?” Chat repeated. “I – I mean… you do? I m-mean… that’s cool.” He tried to sound indifferent. He failed.

“This is so embarrassing,” Ladybug moaned. “Let’s just never talk about this again.”

“Why not?” Chat asked.

Ladybug looked up. “Huh?”

“Um. Why can’t we talk about it? Because, my crush on you – on _Ladybug_ wasn’t so inconspicuous… Surely you noticed.”

“I thought you were just flirty,” Ladybug said, shifting in her spot.

“I am!” Chat agreed. “To girls I have crushes on.”

“Then how come you winked at Marinette then? Before you knew I was her?” Ladybug asked, eyes narrowed into slits.

“I – I might have had the tiniest crush on Marinette too?” The statement came out as a question.

Ladybug squeaked. “Really? Because… I had a really small crush on Chat Noir. Before I knew you were Adrien.”

Both their faces were lit up like a Christmas tree, both in embarrassment and joy.

[Umbrella scene music] Chat cleared his throat, and Ladybug gazed up at him, an unspoken question in her eyes. They stepped closer together as one, so Ladybug’s hair brushed Chat’s nose. She tilted her head back a little and looked into his eyes.

Chat gingerly put a hand on Ladybug’s waist, and the other lightly touching her cheek. Ladybug hesitantly wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Can I?” Chat asked. Ladybug nodded a little breathlessly.

He leaned forward slowly, so their lips brushed. Ladybug closed her eyes. Chat, gaining more confidence, pressed his lips gently on hers, and she sighed in pleasure.

It was over in seconds, but it had felt like an eternity. Chat’s eyes were still closed.

“Wow,” Ladybug breathed.

Chat nodded. His cheeks were pink.

Their arms were still around each other, and, this time, Ladybug leant closer. Their lips met again, more surely, smiling into the kiss.

* * *

They had both gone home later that night. They hadn’t talked much after they kissed, just sat in silence, enjoying each other’s company. Then Ladybug had swung home on her yo-yo.

Chat had stood there for a few minutes, touching his lips gently, and staring into the sky. He then ran home, smiling all the while.


	6. Happiness and Alleyways

Marinette flung an arm over her eyes, trying to block the sudden light that had streamed in through the curtains.

“Marinette,” her mother said, prying Marinette’s arm away, “you have to wake up! It’s already eleven.”

“No, maman,” Marinette grumbled, yawns punctuating her words. “It’s… Saturday. One… more… minute.”

Then the cover was flung off unceremoniously, displaying Marinette’s bare legs to the cold air. This woke her up. She leant again the headboard, groaning. She sighed happily, thinking of what had happened last night. Had it been a dream? It felt too real to be one.

“What’s got you so happy?” Sabine asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Oh, uh- just a nice dream,” Marinette stammered, blushing wildly.

Sabine patted Marinette’s cheek, then left the room. Marinette touched her lips carefully.

“Tikki?” she asked quietly. “Did that really happen last night?”

Tikki giggled. “Yes, Marinette! Now do you believe Adrien loves you?”

Marinette fanned her cheeks, trying to remove her blush. “I – I guess,” she said.

She stood up, and stared out of the window. Was Adrien thinking about the kiss? Did he regret it? No, she didn’t think so. Adrien had definitely been kissing her back that night. She sighed, a smile on her face, and started to get ready for the new day.

* * *

Adrien _was_ thinking about the kiss. He had woken up early that morning, despite having a pretty clear schedule in the day, and had lain awake for several hours.

“Plagg?” he hissed. “Are you awake?”

The Kwami moaned. “Now I am. Why are you awake?”

“I’m thinking about Ladybug.” Adrien said her name reverently. “About Marinette.”

“Oh, of course. If you’re up, why don’t you get me some cheese?”

Adrien rolled his eyes, knowing that Plagg could probably tell what he was doing. He swung his legs out of the bed, and sat for a minute. He breathed deeply, trying to remember how the kiss had felt.

“Come ooooooon, Adrien,” Plagg grumbled.

“Okay, Plagg,” Adrien said, exasperated. “You’re such a glutton.”

* * *

An akuma was spotted again that day, just after lunch.

“Hey, my lady,” Chat called, jumping across a rooftop to run next to Ladybug. “Hawkmoth has been really busy this week, hasn’t he?”

Ladybug gave a noise of assent. “Come on, we need to catch the akuma, and fast. I’ve still got a ton of homework left to do.”

“I know what you mean, purrincess,” Chat said. “That physics project will take ages.”

“Oh please, kitty.” Ladybug snorted. “You’re the best in our class at physics. Think about me!”

“I do,” Chat whispered, moving closer. “I think about you all the time.”

Ladybug blushed, almost missing her step on the building. Before, Chat’s advances would mean nothing; she would probably laugh and push him away. But now, she knew it was not just meaningless flirting. Ladybug thought about their dynamics in the team. She had thought that after revealing herself to Chat, and vice versa, their dynamics would worsen, especially because Marinette could barely speak in front of Adrien. But it was the opposite. Their dynamics had actually improved, them bantering as easily as before, and understanding each other more.

They reached the site of the akuma attack, to find even more ruined buildings than yesterday, and a bigger, scarier akumatised villain. They quickly dealt with it, Chat spouting out terrible puns, and Ladybug rolling her eyes almost constantly. As they finished their celebratory fist bump, Chat brought Ladybug in close.

“Chat,” Ladybug said in a measured tone, though her heart was beating a mile a minute. “What are you doing?” Her eyes flicked over to the gathered civilians, and, of course, Alya filming the whole thing. They looked excited. Alya was gripping her phone tightly, eyes wide.

“I’m doing this,” Chat breathed, making Ladybug shiver unconsciously. He leaned in, and gave her a short, sweet kiss. As they parted, Ladybug felt a hot red blush rise to her cheeks.

“Oh my god!” they heard Alya squeal. “You guys kissed!”

“Uh- yeah, we did,” Ladybug said, tugging on her pigtails. Her earrings beeped, and seconds later, Chat’s ring did too. “Oh, look at that! We have to go! Bye!” She ran away quickly, dragging a smug Chat along with her.

“Chat!” Ladybug complained as soon as they found an empty alley. “What was that?”

Chat grinned. “I kissed you, didn’t I?” His ring beeped again, but they ignored it.

“ _Yes_ , I know that,” Ladybug said, trying to act angry, and failing. “But in front of everyone? In front of _Alya_?”

Chat shrugged. “So what?”

Ladybug’s transformation ran out. Chat stared at her curiously – this was the first time he had seen her transform into Marinette. Tikki popped out from her earrings, and flew into Marinette’s outstretched hand, where a cookie was waiting for her.

“Wait, your Kwami eats cookies?” Chat asked, frowning curiously. A second later, Chat turned back into Adrien. Marinette mirrored Adrien’s actions from seconds before. Plagg instantly started rummaging in Adrien’s bag.

“Why? What does your Kwami eat?”

Plagg emerged, smiling with satisfaction. A large piece of camembert was in his hands.

“Oh, right.” Marinette giggled.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Tikki!” Adrien hesitantly placed his finger on the Kwami’s head.

“Uh, I’m Adrien. But I guess you already knew that.”

Tikki nodded cutely. “Hello, Plagg!”

Plagg gulped the last of his cheese down, then flew up to Marinette. “I’m Plagg. Adrien’s told me a lot about you!”

“Hey!” Adrien blushed.

“Ladybug me, or Marinette me?”

“Both.”

Adrien frowned. “Okay, Plagg, enough talking. Marinette, your Kwami’s so nice. Can we swap?” he asked hopefully.

Marinette laughed. “No way, kitty. But Plagg _is_ really cute!”

Adrien snorted. “Yeah right,” he muttered.

They all stared at each other for a second.

“This feels so unreal,” Marinette whispered. “I mean, seeing you as Adrien, but also Chat.”

“Yeah,” Adrien murmured. “I never would have guessed…” He reached out to put a hand on her arm.

“Marinette? Adrien?” The two in question whirled around to face Alya walking into the alley. Tikki and Plagg quickly hid, Adrien’s arm falling to his side. Marinette looked at it somewhat mournfully. “What are you guys doing here?” Alya demanded.

“Oh, uh,” Marinette stammered.

“We were hiding from the akuma,” Adrien supplied helpfully.

“Still?” Alya raised her eyebrows suspiciously.

“Oh, I guess we didn’t realise,” Marinette said casually. “Did Ladybug and Chat Noir defeat it?”

Alya nodded, then pulled out her phone. “Oh, guys, you’ll never guess!”

“What?” Marinette asked, already knowing the answer.

“Ladybug and Chat Noir kissed!” Alya exclaimed. Marinette sent a pointed glare at Adrien. Adrien grinned sheepishly.

Marinette tried to act surprised. “Oh my god! Really?” Adrien closed his eyes. Marinette was a terrible actor.

Alya didn’t seem to notice. “Look!” She showed them a shaky video, which showed the two heroes kissing. “And it’s obviously not their first kiss!”

“Really?” Adrien asked, genuinely curious. Marinette felt weird – talking about kissing your best friend (and probably boyfriend) with your other best friend like they didn’t know about it was awkward.

“It seems so natural!” Alya jumped around. “Those two are made for each other.” [Alya channels Master Fu’s spirit]

Marinette choked a little, while Adrien waggled his eyebrows.

“Remember that newspaper article?” Alya said. “I called them up.”

“Oh really?” Adrien furrowed his brows. “What did you ask?”

“If that photo was legit. They sent me an email of the original photo. There’s no way it has been edited. So that means Ladybug gave Chat a hickey!”

“Oh god,” Marinette groaned. Adrien grinned smugly. Alya didn’t seem to notice, muttering to herself about ‘Ladynoir’ and ‘true love’.

“Anyway, let’s get out of this mangy alleyway,” Alya said.

“Right,” Adrien agreed. “I’ve got fencing practice soon. Bye my – uh… Marinette!”

“Bye Adrien,” Marinette yelled, waving slightly as Adrien ran off, with a dreamy look in her eyes.

Alya took Marinette by the shoulders and shook her gently, eyes staring wildly.

“Alya!” Marinette complained. “What?”

“You were in a dark alley with Adrien,” Alya informed her. “And you’re not stuttering. At all. Not even a blush. What’s going on?”

“I – I guess we talked a little,” Marinette invented wildly. “Then I realised that… um… maybe I don’t need to be embarrassed around him all the time!” She laughed uncomfortably.

“Girl, tell me everything!” Alya demanded, slinging an arm around Marinette’s shoulders. “What did you guys talk about?”

“Oh, you know, this and that,” Marinette muttered. “I don’t remember.”

“How can you not remember, Marinette?” Alya shook her head.

“It doesn’t matter. Just… stuff.”

“Okay,” Alya conceded. She wrapped an arm around Marinette’s shoulder and started to lead her out of the alley. “But you’re going to have to tell me _sometime_.”

“One day,” Marinette murmured. “One day, I’ll tell you everything.” She sighed gently, shaking her head.

“What was that?” Alya asked curiously, not really paying attention.

“Nothing.” Marinette smiled sadly. “Come on, tell me more about Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1 posted! I hope you liked it! Please give feedback, I'd love to know if the characters were in canon and my writing is good... :)  
> Oh, and read my other Miraculous Ladybug fic, it's (you guessed it) another reveal, but with Alya finding out.  
> I'm actually writing another fic *cringe* so look out for that also!  
> Look out for the next chapter!


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